These shots are from Thursday, on our way out to Laughlin. My wife and I took the 62 through Twentynine Palms and ran up into Amboy for a root beer. We got stuck waiting for a few trains in Amboy, but I don't mind because I'm like a kid and I love trains.
From there, we took the mother road east to Fenner, stopping to explore an an old abandoned WWII airstrip in the middle of the desert that I've been dying to check out. I found the airstrip a few months ago while looking over satellite images, and after a little research, I found out that it was part of Patton's desert proving grounds and was used for joint training exercises. It was actually operated as a training extension of March Air Force Base. They would line a bunch of B-17 flying fortresses up and practice taking off at the same time to launch a massive bombing assault. As I was driving down the runways and parking where the planes would have sat, I couldn't help but think about how amazing one of those massive launches would have sounded.
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
I had to do a little driving through the open desert to get to the airstrip, but it was totally worth it. No buildings or anything, but there are two parallel runways with large aircraft parking areas at either end. One runway and one parking area were still in really great shape, semi-paved. I even found an old metal airplane tie-down anchor. The second runway had seen better days. Unfortunately, the sun was setting quickly and I didn't really want to be blazing a trail through the open desert in the dark, so I didn't get to poke around as much as I would have liked to. I'll be making a trip back to this spot for sure.
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Runway #2 was in pretty rough shape. The desert has been re-claiming this one for a while now:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The sunset as viewed from the open desert around the airstrip was amazing:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
And the rising full moon over the desert was awesome as well. Difficult to capture a photo of this with my point-and-shoot... this shot doesn't do it justice:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
After getting pulled over along Casino Drive (and thankfully being let go with a warning), we arrived at Harrah's around 8:30 pm and had some dinner before turning in for the night.
The morning yielded an opportunity to grab some cool shots of our rigs taking over the parking lot:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
After breakfast, it was off to the Avi to meet up with the entire group.
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Then off to the air-down point along the river:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Bling bling!
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Someone please buy this man some smaller pants, or make him eat some food. He's wasting away, for god's sake. Couldn't even keep his pants pulled up while airing down (censored, since this is a "family" organization):
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Then it was off into the desert. I always forget just how beautiful the scenery is until we get out there:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Say cheese:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Flexy flexy:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Our first casualty. These guys made quick work of it:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
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[URL=http://s231.photobucket.com/user/jfanaselle/media/TMR2016/39.jpg.html]The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Finally made it to Ft. Piute for lunch. You can see the long road through the desert that we had just traveled:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Some bones that were near the fort:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Back on the road:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Shhht..... you can't scare us!
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
Gotta pay that desert crossing toll:
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
First night's camp. As always, the food was amazing!
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...
The Mojave Road April 2016...